Chaienne

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Friday, May 26, 2017

My little granddaughter just finished Kindergarten this week.....and my, oh my, is she glad and relieved to be out for the summer!! lol....(I completely adore my little sweetheart, but she's a rather.....umm.....active child! I think she gave her teachers a run for their money this last year. She had two teachers because she was in a K-1 class, not because she managed to run one off!! At least I don't think that's why.....)

My daughter asked me if I would make some teacher thank you cards...one for each of the teachers and one for the bus driver.(Instead of cards, these brave and self-less educators probably deserve something more like medals and perhaps feel like they are ready for something more like straitjackets! I recall hearing about her long-suffering bus driver reportedly looking in the mirror at the kids in his charge and seeing only Andrea's feet visible above the seat in front of her! That was when she was actually IN her seat!! Oh, my....)

I was glad to make some cards for the occasion and pulled out my Graphic 45 - An ABC Primer collection to do so. It has the most charming vintage school children images!! One thing I love about Graphic 45 papers is that they coordinate so well with each other. All you need to do is layer them up and they look fabulous. I even did the insides this time!

Here are my cards:

#1 - Card front for the main teacher

#1 Inside with Unity sentiment stamp.

#2 - Card front for other teacher

#2 - Inside card with another Unity stamp

#3 - Card Front for the heroic bus driver. lol...

#3 - Inside of card with same Unity stamp as #2.

Aren't those Graphic 45 papers just so much fun??? I hope these fine people who are investing their lives into educating our young people know they are appreciated! I also hope they all rest up this summer.....First Grade might be wild!!! Ha!!!

Thursday, May 25, 2017

Hi, Friends.......You can see below what it looked like at my house here in Idaho last week. We had 2-1/2 inches of snow on May 16! I don't care what hemisphere you live in.......that is just WRONG!!!!

Here is my apple tree all in bloom with the snow covering the blossoms. Fortunately, the flowers did not seem to have been harmed. It's a little early to say, but I think they were able to set fruit and will be fine. And even if we have a smaller harvest of fruit, that will just give the tree a little bit of a rest and make for a larger harvest next year. Time will tell....

Here is a lone, shivering hummingbird bravely guarding "his" feeder. Chilly temps and snow were not going to deter this courageous little guy. He perched there on the wire hook ready to take on all comers!!! It's difficult to tell from the photo, but this is a male Rufous Hummingbird....the fiercely territorial bully of the feeders!

We have 4 species of hummingbirds in my part of Idaho: Rufous, Broad-Tailed (with their zing-zing metallic wing sounds), Black-Chinned, and the tiny Calliope. They all visit my feeders, competing for that sweet nectar and gobbling up mosquitoes and other small flying insects. They put on quite the show in the early evenings!!

So, with this spring snow.......Was I in the mood for making Christmas cards????? Oh, yes!!!!

Besides, I knew ScrappyMo's Rudolph Days - Anything Goes Christmas Challenge was coming up. I had a bunch of layered embossed backgrounds I made months ago with leftover scraps of Christmas prints and took this opportunity to make them all into cards. I kept the design simple to show off the fun patterned paper designs. I ended up with 12 matching ones in this set!! YAY!!! (This helps make up for the Christmas cards I did NOT get made in Feb, March and April!)

I hope you will join us in the Rudolph Days challenge through the end of the month. I might not have been too happy about having snow in May, but I am very glad to have a nice supply of Christmas cards beginning to accumulate. Hey, maybe I will even get them sent out this year!!! Ha!

Wednesday, May 24, 2017

I have three cat-loving crafty friends with birthdays in May (that I know of, at least....maybe there are more and I just don't know when their BDs are!!). They each visit my blog so they probably have a good idea who I am talking about! :) I have been in such disarray all month that I am just now getting cards ready for them....so each of the cards will be VERY late in arriving. Although they will see these three birthday cards on my blog here before they receive theirs in the mail, they won't know whose is whose. That will be a surprise they will have to wait for!

I have three cat-loving crafty friends with birthdays in May (that I know of, at least....maybe there are more and I just don't know when their BDs are!!). They each visit my blog so they probably have a good idea who I am talking about! :) I have been in such disarray all month that I am just now getting cards ready for them....so each of the cards will be VERY late in arriving. Although they will see these three birthday cards on my blog here before they receive theirs in the mail, they won't know whose is whose. That will be a surprise they will have to wait for!

Get your shades on because this is a bright one!!! Here's what I made......

I wanted to use wildly vivid colors for this card, so I stamped the Great Impressions - Three Black Cats in Versamark and heat embossed with some bright day-glo pink powder. Then I sponged around the trio with Distress Ink in Wilted Violet. A bit psychedelic, isn't it? :)

I have three cat-loving crafty friends with birthdays in May (that I know of, at least....maybe there are more and I just don't know when their BDs are!!). They each visit my blog so they probably have a good idea who I am talking about! :) I have been in such disarray all month that I am just now getting cards ready for them....so each of the cards will be VERY late in arriving. Although they will see these three birthday cards on my blog here before they receive theirs in the mail, they won't know whose is whose. That will be a surprise they will have to wait for!

I had fun getting out my Stampendous - Laurel Burch Indigo Cats die set and Stampendous - Laurel Burch Indigo Cats stamp set which I hadn't used yet. I chose a bright spring green layered and embossed background made from scraps. (Yes, I really do save all those skinny strips of paper for making these!!) I stamped the cat and butterfly with Versafine ink in Smokey Gray and watercolored them with Distress Inks in Twisted Citron, Carved Pumpkin, Squeezed Lemonade, and Fossilized Amber.

Tuesday, May 16, 2017

My new glasses are snazzy, but they have nothing on this old gal's 3Ds!! lol....

Hi, Friends......

I am finally here with #6, the LAST of my Graphic 45 Card Extravaganza where I went wild with my Graphic
45 Precious Memories collection and made SIX cards!!! This card uses the last three panels from the sheet I was using in each of my cards. Again, I
made this baby card with one of the Winnie & Walter challenges
in mind:

Winnie & Walter May Color Combo Challenge with Heather H. (ends June 9)
- I noticed that the colors in the G45 papers were very similar to the
lovely ones in the palette that Heather chose this time. The papers even
feature roses along with the babies and mommies....just like in the
inspiration photo!

Here's my card......

This might be my very favorite of the cards I made in this series. I like the three-panel design in this tall format. I have a ton of long scraps that are too narrow for my usual A2 size card, but exactly the right width for this size. I used an adorable border die and added lots of flowers and some butterflies. Sweet!! I really like this one!!

Thank you for your patience as I flooded my blog with all these cards! I had a great time making them and hope that you have enjoyed all the variations I did on them. Thank you for taking a peek and leaving a comment or two. Your visits mean a lot to me!!

Monday, May 15, 2017

I am back with #5 of my Graphic 45 Card Extravaganza where I went wild with my Graphic 45 Precious Memories collection and made SIX cards!!! I love this collection with its images that are suitable for baby boys or girls. I made this little boy card with one of the Winnie & Walter challenges in mind:

Winnie & Walter May Color Combo Challenge with Heather H. (ends June 9) - I noticed that the colors in the G45 papers were very similar to the lovely ones in the palette that Heather chose this time. The papers even feature roses along with the babies and mommies....just like in the inspiration photo!

Here's my card......

In addition to the Graphic 45 papers, I used scraps for matting and leftover bits of a doily from THIS PROJECT. I think the little wheel shapes have a sort of nautical look and go with the sailboats in the papers.

Hope you are enjoying what I have been making with my G45 papers for the W&W challenges. I have one last card of this collection to post. I would love for you to join in, too. You still have plenty of time! Thank you, as always, for your visits and comments!!!

I am back with #4 of my Graphic 45 Card Extravaganza where I went wild with my Graphic 45 Precious Memories collection and made SIX cards!!! I love this collection for making baby cards.....like this one for a brand-new little boy. I made it with a couple of challenges in mind:

1. Winnie & Walter May Color Combo Challenge with Heather H. (ends June 9) - I noticed that the colors in the G45 papers were very similar to the lovely ones in the palette that Heather chose this time. The papers even feature roses along with the babies and mommies....just like in the inspiration photo!

2. Winnie & Walter Rerun Challenge #19: Parentville (ends May 31) - The W&W Rerun challenges are where a stamp set from
the past is featured. Shay and her design team members make cards with
this older set and she challenges us to make a card using it, also. If
we don't have the set, we can use a different W&W product to make a
card inspired by one from the design team. Fun!!! This month Shay is
actually has two stamp sets to rerun:

I don't have either of the W&W Parentville/Extras sets, so I drew inspiration from Kelly's cards where she made beautiful clusters of hearts. You can see her cards HERE. Instead of hearts, I made some sweet clusters of stamped and die-cut stars (from glittery blue scraps...YAY!) and Nuvo drops. (I am still getting the hang of using the drops, so bear with me!!) I think the card turned out super-adorable!!

Oh, my goodness.....this is adorable. But did YOU ever dress up your kitty in doll clothes when you were little? I did. They HATED it! lol... They'd go streaking from the room leaving a trail of dresses and hats and booties behind them. How did they get this one to stay still?????

Hi, Friends......

I am back with
#3 of my Graphic 45 Card Extravaganza....my latest crafting whirlwind where I got started making cards with my Graphic 45 Precious Memory collection AND couldn't stop!!! lol... I love the sweet images on the papers of babies and mommies and related themes. This time I made a baby girl card with a couple of challenges in mind:

1. Winnie & Walter May Color Combo Challenge with Heather H.
(ends June 9) - I noticed that the colors in the G45 papers were very
similar to the lovely ones in the palette that Heather chose this time.
The papers even feature roses along with the babies and mommies....just
like in the inspiration photo!

2. Winnie & Walter Rerun Challenge #19: Parentville
(ends May 31) - The W&W Rerun challenges are where a stamp set from
the past is featured. Shay and her design team members make cards with
this older set and she challenges us to make a card using it, also. If
we don't have the set, we can use a different W&W product to make a
card inspired by one from the design team. Fun!!! This month Shay is
actually has two stamp sets to rerun:

I don't have either of the W&W Parentville/Extras sets, so I drew inspiration from the two cards that Heather H made. You can see her cards HERE. I loved how she added a pretty horizontal piece of lace ribbon to her Mom card. I did the same thing, but mine is vertical. I think the fancy edges on her sentiment panels are so pretty, so I used a sweet scalloped edge die. The patterned background paper for her Dad card has a decidedly masculine feel, but it inspired the dainty dotted paper I used.

It was nice seeing Heather make such lovely use of patterned paper. If you are like me, you have a ton of it in your stash! I LOVE how the W&W Essential series of dies are perfect for making wonderful layered cards with pretty papers from many different companies. I enjoy being able to use what I have on hand. The Essentials by W&W make it easy and fun!!

I am back with #2 of my Graphic 45 Card Extravaganza where I went a little bit crazy making cards with my Graphic 45 Precious Memory collection. These papers are great for making Mother's Day cards...or baby cards.....cards for small children.....or all-occasion cards for those special ladies in our lives. The vintage images are so evocative of long ago memories. I made this one especially for a couple of challenges:

1. Winnie & Walter May Color Combo Challenge with Heather H. (ends June 9) - I noticed that the colors in the G45 papers were very similar to the lovely ones in the palette that Heather chose this time. The papers even feature roses along with the babies and mommies....just like in the inspiration photo!

2. Winnie & Walter Rerun Challenge #19: Parentville (ends May 31) - The W&W Rerun challenges are where a stamp set from the past is featured. Shay and her design team members make cards with this older set and she challenges us to make a card using it, also. If we don't have the set, we can use a different W&W product to make a card inspired by one from the design team. Fun!!! This month Shay is actually has two stamp sets to rerun:

I don't have either of the W&W Parentville/Extras sets, so I drew inspiration from a card that Shay made in THIS POST. I loved Shay's two-toned stamping/embossing on her Mother's Day card and did a similar thing with my heat-embossed sentiment on a sponged die-cut.

Sunday, May 14, 2017

I got on a roll this weekend and made SIX cards with my Graphic 45 - Precious Memories collection for several different challenges. WOW!!! (So proud of myself for using my G45!!! lol...)

1. Winnie & Walter May Color Combo Challenge with Heather H. (ends June 9) - I noticed that the colors in the G45 papers were very similar to the lovely ones in the palette that Heather chose this time. The papers even feature roses along with the babies and mommies....just like in the inspiration photo!

2. Winnie & Walter Rerun Challenge #19: Parentville (ends May 31) - The W&W Rerun challenges are where a stamp set from the past is featured. Shay and her design team members make cards with this older set and she challenges us to make a card using it, also. If we don't have the set, we can use a different W&W product to make a card inspired by one from the design team. Fun!!! This month Shay is actually has two stamp sets to rerun:

3. Papercrafter's Corner Magazine Mondays Week #170 (ends May 14) - Here we are given a vintage magazine cover for an inspiration piece. I challenge myself to use something from my Graphic 45 collections for these challenges. I was inspired by the mother and child, the contrast of dark and bright colors, and also the diagonal shadow sweeping over the bright splash of salmon pink.

Here's my card......

I don't have either of the W&W Parentville/Extras sets, so I drew inspiration from the cards that Shay and the team made. I really like the idea of a bold panel going completely across the card, like Shay and Heather H. used on their cards in THIS POST. I used satin ribbon from my stash and put it on the diagonal. (Did you think I put it on an angle because I am so arty and creative? Well, actually, it was to hide a flaw in the ribbon!! But I LIKE it on the diagonal. I will have to remember to do this again sometime!! lol...)

Hope you enjoyed my card. I made five more from that same collection and I will be posting them over the next day or two.

In the meantime, I hope all you ladies out there are having a nice Mother's Day. I am a firm believer that a gal doesn't have to "technically" be a Mom to deserve recognition on this special day. Women everywhere play a crucial role in mentoring, nurturing, encouraging, and educating the young people in their communities.So hats off and my sincere thanks and appreciation to ALL WOMEN on Mother's Day!!! May you be blessed.